Stuck in Sumy, hope fading fast: ‘We boiled ice to get water — even for drinking’

More than 800 medical students of Sumy university, meanwhile, made a desperate appeal to the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pleading to be rescued from the war-hit region — or, they said, they will be “killed”.

In the video, one student, Mehtab, said: “There are about 800 students in different hostels in the college. There was a huge blast yesterday night after which water supply got discontinued. We have been hungry and thirsty since last night. No food…no water is left to drink. We cannot self-evacuate and need the intervention of the Indian government. There are people roaming outside with firearms; there could be an air attack or firing if we try to leave on our own.”

In sub-zero temperature, Mehtab said in the video, “we cannot leave from the western border, as we will have to pass through Kyiv or Kharkiv, which are under attack. We have heard news of people being attacked while trying to escape from Kyiv and Kharkiv; we have heard buses are arranged for us at the Russian border, which is nearby, but we cannot reach there. We need the government to escort us.”

Another video showed students accumulating ice in bags and collecting drops of icy water falling off trees for drinking.

Back in Mumbai, a group of students who escaped from Kyiv and Kharkiv on March 1 and took a flight from Hungary, said they saw rockets flying over their heads and explosions from their apartment windows. They appealed to the government to rescue thousands of hundreds still stuck in eastern Ukraine.

Raminder Pal Singh, 23, from Chandigarh, a fifth-year medical student in Kyiv, said the Indian government did not help in their evacuation in Kyiv. “Help came only after we reached the border,” Singh said. “Many are still stuck in Kyiv; I request the government to rescue them. I was lucky that I am able to speak Russian, which helped me communicate with Ukrainians.”

After waiting 12 hours at Kyiv railway station, Singh said, a woman official there helped his group get on to a train out of Kyiv city on March 1. Initially, he said, they were not allowed to board the train, as local residents got preference.

Singh said he saw a missile flying over his head near his apartment the day he left the city.

Ritesh Prasad, who comes from Odisha and was studying MBBS in Kharkiv, said: “My friends and I left Kharkiv on March 1, a day before the Indian government issued an advisory, asking us to leave immediately. It was too risky to stay back…. The government’s advisory came late — countries such as the US, the UK, Canada, among others, got their citizens out by issuing a strong advisory well in advance.”

Prasad said he saw shelling at some distance from his residence in Kharkiv and shared a video of it. “From February 24 to March 1, we spent much of our time in the nearby metro station, as that was the only safe haven. Two houses behind our apartment were attacked by shelling, and another residence nearby was also attacked. People of Ukraine were very kind and provided me with food during my six-day stay at the metro premises. They did not discriminate.”

Among those arriving, one student said the local residents were very kind towards them, while another said he had to bribe some locals to get out of Kharkiv.

“A senior citizen couple stopped their car and gave me a ride to Kyiv railway station. Then a woman officer at the station took pity and allowed me to board a packed train,” the first student said.

The other student said, “I bribed a guard at the railway station to get in a train, paying him $100. Then I had to bribe a cab driver with $100, and then a van driver, as they were not ready to take me to the station.”

“I think those who had money got out easily, others got stuck,” this student said. “The Ukrainians also seem upset that the Indian government is not supporting them.”